TRC Final Report

Volume 6

Section 3

Chapter 1

Subsection 30

Failure to discipline

333.There was a consistent failure to discipline those who behaved in an unlawful manner. Applicants cited numerous incidents in which senior personnel failed to take action against subordinates who had committed transgressions.

334. Brigadier Cronje, Divisional Commander of the Northern Transvaal, was present when Captain Hendrik Prinsloo assaulted an unknown MK operative. Yet, even when Captain Prinsloo began to throttle the victim, he made no effort to stop the assault. The victim died of strangulation.

335. On 6 May 1987, Constable Joe Mamasela is alleged to have shot dead Mr Joe Tsele when his instructions had simply been to check whether he was at home. Brigadier Cronje, who was present during the incident, testified that he had seen no point in reprimanding Mamasela as the covert unit had intended to kill Mr Tsele in any case.

336. On 30 November 1987, the covert operational unit killed police officer David Mothasi and his wife Busi Irene. Applicants said there had been no instruction to kill Mrs Mothasi. Joe Mamasela, who was responsible for the killing of Mrs Mothasi, was neither reprimanded nor disciplined.

337. On 12 June 1988, detainee Stanza Bopape died while being tortured with electric shock treatment. Those responsible reported the matter to their Divisional Commander, Brigadier Gerrit Nicholas Erasmus, who in turn informed the Officer Commanding the Security Branch, General Johan van der Merwe. Not only did Brigadier Erasmus and General van der Merwe then conspire to cover up the death of Mr Bopape, but they also failed to take any disciplinary actions against those re sponsible .

3 3 8 . In June 1986, Mr Jabulani Sydney Msibi, a prominent MK operative, was abducted from Swaziland on instructions from Security Branch Headquarters. He was subsequently transferred to Daisy Farm where Captain de Kock and another severely assaulted him in the presence of Brigadier Herman Stadler, head of the Intelligence Section of Security Branch Headquarters. Brigadier Stadler instructed Captain de Kock to stop the assault, but took no further action.

339. In December 1985, General van der Merwe, then second in command of the Security Branch, authorised a raid on Maseru, Lesotho, that left nine persons dead, including three Lesotho citizens. When informed of this situation in early January, the Commissioner of Police, General Coetzee, took no action against General van der Merwe. This contradicts his testimony in an earlier Commission hearing, in which he testified that he had taken action whenever he received evidence of unlawful activity. On the contrary, Brigadier van der Merwe’s promotion to General and his appointment as Commanding Officer of the Security Branch from the beginning of January 1986 went through as planned. In his defence, General Coetzee said that he had reported the matter to Minister le Grange and it had been up to the Minister to decide whether action should be taken. He further testified:

On that particular day in the context of what was happening then and then in the milieu that reigned there, if I had gone to the Minister and said ‘and now I think criminal prosecution has to be instituted against General van der Merwe’, he would have shown me the door and said ‘listen here, you are out of your mind’ because he believed it was in the interest of the country and that was the general thought or the general train of thought not only with the National Party but also with the government then. (Pretoria hearing, 3 March 2000.)

340. This provides conclusive evidence that he condoned the action.

Cover-ups

3 4 1 . Further evidence that unlawful behaviour was widely condoned may be found in the many cover-ups that took place. In many instances, operatives – often with the sanction and assistance of those in higher command – played an active role in covering up unlawful activity. Types of cover-up included:

Placing arms at the scene of an ambush

342. On 8 June 1988, a joint C1/Eastern Transvaal team ambushed a vehicle they believed would be carrying armed MK operatives near Piet Retief. Three women and a man, all unarmed, were killed. In order to give the impression that a shoot-out had occurred, shots were fired from inside the vehicle and arms were planted in the vehicle.

343. Eugene de Kock testified that he had informed his superior, Brigadier Schoon, that there had been a ‘problem with regards to the weapons’, but that it had been rectified.

Appointing as investigating officers one of the operatives who had been involved in an incident

344. In many instances, applicants testified that they had both participated in an operation and acted as investigating officer afterwards, thus ensuring that the true facts did not emerge. In the two June 1988 Piet Retief ambushes, for example, then Captain Frederick Pienaar, commander of the Piet Retief subbranch, initially acted as the investigating office r, despite the fact that he had been part of both operations. Further, in an arson attack on the Ledwaba home by the covert unit of the Northern Transvaal Security Branch, Sergeant Goosen, who had accompanied Lieutenant Hechter on the operation, later attended the scene and described how he ‘purposely destroyed evidence in order to protect the real perpetrators, including myself’ .